The Masque of the Red Death for Edgar Allan Poe - Essay Example

Such people in a way tend to ignore the reality of death by engaging in favored diversions and cherished joys. On the other side there are people who respect the serious and ponderous aspects of life and do not hesitate to meditate on and think about death, which is the inevitable and unavoidable fate of everybody who is alive. However, the one single thing that is common to all the types and dispositions is that death does evoke the feelings of fear and intimidation, irrespective of one’s status or temperament.

Edgar Allan Poe in his story The Masque of the Red Death delves on the frivolity of human understanding in the face of that which is all pervasive and universal. The plot, setting, characterization and atmosphere created by Poe in The Masque of the Red Death rely on the elements of terror, horror and grotesqueness, to exhibit the helplessness of the human existence before a fate that is essentially given to be mortal. The story starts with the news that “The “Red Death” had long devastated the country” (Poe 3).

By doing so the writer tends to play on the fear and all pervasiveness of death that always lurks at the back of human consciousness. In that context, the miniature world marked by gaiety and merriment, created by Edgar Allan Poe is a replica of the real world in which death pursues all and sundry, without exception and favors. The characters in the story, including the Prince Prospero and his assorted guests and the retinue of entertainers belong to the affluent strata of society. Now for the poor and deprived, it is much easier to admit one’s helplessness before death.

The dilution of ego is more favorable to the understanding and acceptance of the essential aspects of life. However, it is not so with the denizens of the “castellated abbeys” (Poe 3). Unexceptionally all the characters in the story tend to be the cream of the society in a pecuniary and political context. Thus, as expected, they end up committing the same mistake, which is committed in varied measures by the mighty and powerful in all the ages and times. They believe that death and pestilence was to be the fate of the commoners in the kingdom and they are perfectly safe behind their “lofty wall” (Poe 3) and “gates of iron” (Poe 3).

The “hale and light hearted friends” (Poe 3) of the Prince Prospero ironically intend to subdue their acceptance of death in a cloud of fun, enjoyment and luxury. However, this very intention and effort on their part, time and again reveals the moments of “brief disconcert of the whole gay company” (Poe 5). Their heartiest laughs are tinged with apprehensions and their gayest frolics are marked with intimidation. In that context, the plight of these guests is actually the plight of all men.

Hence, the terror of the assorted guests in a subtle way percolates into and makes connection with the terror lurking in the minds of the readers, and the contrived obliviousness on their part makes the reader think about one’s personal attempts to evade thoughts of mortality, by engaging in diversion of one’s own. In a way, the reader simply forgets as to the moment and way one connects with and begins to identify with the arrogant ignorance of the guests in the story, flickering amidst death that has the potential to